Team KiterChick - CLOSED (Page 12)

Good luck in your HIM Sarah!

Only four weeks to go before its my turn, be sure to let us know how it goes.

Beth

KiterChick - 2012-06-17 10:28 AM Hi everyone! Race went well, considering I was basically treating it as a training day. Run was a bit rough, but I was expecting that given my relative lack of training for that distance up to this point. I'll post a full race report tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

Great job Sarah.  You are truly awesome.  

My anniversary tri went good.  I was really happy with the overall event.  Felt great the entire race.  

S

Sorry to have been MIA the last couple of weeks.  We had company (my sister came into town for a bit and then she did a Tri with me on June 10th)  It's just all around been a busy couple of weeks.  I participated in a local Sprint Tri designed for newbies.  It was my second Sprint at this distance, but my first OWS and first hilly run and bike so I considered myself enough of a newbie to still do it.  It rained the entire event, I dreaded it looking at the weather as Sunday approached, but I surprised myself and did great (for me!) and had a blast.  I swam my first OWS, a shoreline swim so I'm sure that knowing I was close to shore helped with the nerves, we'll see how this goes in a non shoreline OWS, but hey, got a bit of a feel for group starts and OWS.   I was pleased with what I saw on my watch when I exited the water - an 8:38 400m, then about a 1/4 mile hilly jog to the timing mat for 12:04 as swim time.  Then, I managed to do well, for me, on what is a hilly course (at least in my opinion) on the bike, and then I killed the run (had about 3 hills) with a pace of 8:30 (waaaaay better than I expected as my last Tri run a year ago was a 10:17 pace!)  Ok, so I feel like I suck on hills as they were my concern going into this race, but I managed it!  To top it off my twin sister placed 2nd in our AG and I placed 3rd.  Total shocker as we never expected it.  It will probably be the only time I ever place at a Tri as the rest won't be such newbie races, but it was a great way to top off a fun race, despite the rainy ick weather!!

Here is my race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=445012&posts=1&start=1

Now off to get ready for my next Sprint Tri in early August that will be a 'real' OWS course, not a shoreline swim.  I'm looking forward to it b/c it is an all women's event and it still draws about 50% newbies so it will have a good vibe, I'm sure.

Hi everyone! It's been a pretty quiet week after the HIM. I did an easy spin session on my trainer yesterday, then I'm hoping to sneak off to the pool here soon to fit in a workout there.

Heather - Congratulations on your race! With practice, you'll definitely improve on the bike. Awesome run time too, it's a huge improvement over just a year ago!

Beth - Good luck with the MRI today, I hope it goes well. Be sure to let us know about it, as well as if you find yourself a sweet new car!

I've been MIA for a bit.  The wife and I decided that before the baby comes in October we should try to sell our current house/find a bigger one.  So the last week has been a barrage of meeting with realtors, going to open houses, and trying get started on all of the work needed to get my current place into salable condition.  So instead of a long ride last weekend, it was ride for an hour then go to Sears to pick-out appliances, and things like that.

On the plus side, I have a race on Sunday morning, which will be a good break from the painting I have planned for the rest of the weekend. In an effort to get ready for next's month Oly, Coach has set me up a great race plan for the day- comfortable, controlled swim; hard/nail the bike; hold-on for the run.  Love it!

Have a great weekend everyone.

It's been a smoking hot week here in NC so my workouts have been really tough.  I have been out each day, but I am not bragging about the efforts in any of my workouts.  

I am racing again on Sunday.  It's definitely a "C" race so I am planning on just having fun.  We will see if I know how to run a "C" race.

Good luck! 

If it makes you feel better, I have no idea how I would run a "C" race either.

Sorry about being MIA for the past week. Its been a heck of a ride here!

My car broke down forcing me to buy another one and that was an ordeal in of itself. Finally got that figured out. Found out that I have a Bakers Cyst behind my knee and several small cysts in my hip with the deep muscles in my butt swollen and inflamed. So its a few months of physical therapy and having the cysts drained and hopfully the pain will go away.

I did a short run of 4 miles and a bike ride of 8 miles the other day and I was able to keep my heart rate down to a decent rate. My HIM is less than a month away and I'm still not feeling competely ready. Don't know if that's just part of it being my first HIM and the nerves kicking in or if I'm truly not ready. I mean I can do an Oly without a problem and even in the worse of circumstances I can do the distances. I just hope that this HIM is not a total disaster.

Hope training is going well for everyone.

Beth

Beth, Good luck with everything.  It's probably just nerves making you feel unready for the HIM.  You will do great. 

Completed in my first "C" race this weekend.  I think I gave more of a "B" effort, but all in all it was a good time.  My race report is posted.  

I feel a little like a slacker with all my little sprints.  But they are fun and incredible competitive.  My AG is tough.  

Hi everyone, happy Monday! Had a great weekend all around. For training, I headed out to Walden with Mike and did a half hour OWS without a wetsuit, by far the furthest I've done one of those. Went on a short run once we got back, then we went on a 36M ride on Sunday. Stopped for ice cream halfway through, since it was so nice out. The rain is back again today, but that's okay, since I just have to hit the pool after work.

Will - House selling must be stressful, so I can see how that would cut into your free time. How was the race this weekend? Hope it went well. MA State is in less than three weeks!

Ken - Congratulations on your race this past weekend, those results looked great to me considering you were only billing it as a B or C race. Also, no reason at all to feel like a slacker doing sprints. I fully intend to do that next year. You're right, they're fun!

Beth - Nice to hear you finally got a diagnosis, so now you can just focus on getting your knee back to 100%. As for the HIM, I'm sure what you're feeling is just nerves. You know you can do the distances, and the race atmosphere will likely boost your adrenaline too, so I bet you'll rock it on race day. Hope you're enjoying your new car too!

Yeah- selling a house sucks, or at least all the prep work for it.  Plus, finding a place is miserable.  There is definitely not a housing crisis in Boston- everyplace we look at and like, is off the market two days after the open-house.  Once we get our place on the market, we will have to be aggressive.

The race went well enough (race report is now up).  I went in feeling a little under prepared, and it showed.  My bike and run efforts were both a little off.  Still, I finished under 1:20 which was the top end of my goal range, and solidly in the MOP (298 of 800 overall; 22 of 55 age group).  So I'll take it, but still felt more like a B effort.

Question- when I come out of the water, my heart was pounding.  It took me a couple of miles of spinning on the bike to get my HR back under control.  What is the strategy for getting out of the water without the super high HR?

Will

Hey Will, I suppose first, I'd ask, why is your heart pounding when you exit the water? Are you pushing yourself too hard? Is it due to race induced adrenaline/anxiety? I'd say either way, perhaps you should try to focus more on relaxing a bit more on the swim. I know, easier said than done!

If you're pushing yourself too hard, try to focus on bringing your pace down to a steadier pace, reminding yourself that you still have to reserve energy for the bike and run. If it's race related, try to focus on yourself. I realize you can't completely ignore the other racers, especially when they're constantly bumping into you, but try your best to ignore them and race your own race. As with anything, this can come with increased practice, if only it was easier to practice race swimming outside of a race. You could always get a friend to follow you in a kayak and continuously poke you with a paddle...

Regardless, you've been rocking it on the bike. I'm sorry you're dealing with this HR issue, but you're still doing great!

Hi Beth- There are a couple of different things that I do: on longer rides where I know that I am going to need several gels, I will use a gel flask.  Typically these hold about 5 gels, but I will usually put in three or  four then an ounce of water to help with the consistency.  I also like to alternate the gels with something else, so I don't get too sick of them.  Another idea that some people do is just add a gel or two to their water bottle.  I have never tried it, but there are some posts about it on BT.  On shorter rides and longer runs, I use individual gels- for this I rip the top off with my teeth and suck down the gel.  If my hands a little sticky, I just usually wipe them on my shirt or shorts and forget about it.

Will

Thanks Sarah- That's a really good question, and to be honest I am not sure of the answer.  Its hard to imagine at my swim pace that I am pushing things too hard, but its possible.  My best guess is that it is a mix of the two- anxiety and effort.  I am a lot more comfortable in the swim then I was a year ago, but my bet is there is still  a little anxiety issues there.  I think adrenaline has to be part of the equation, I noticed during the swim portion my attitude was go,go,go, so relaxing more may be the ticket.

I am excited for Mass State- have you ridden the course?

This week has been a really busy week with work so I haven't had an opportunity to really post.  

My training is moving into working on speed.  I have build a solid base and now need to improve on time.  Especially in swimming.  Any tips?  

I've tried Shot Blocks and they just didn't set well with my stomach, but someone at work suggested trying gummy bears. And since I LOVE gummy's I'll taken them out on a short ride next week just to try them and see how my belly handles them.  I think that I have better luck with the gels on the run where I have the option to stop and wash my hands at an aid station.

My phyical therapy is going great! Between the MRI and the therapist I found out the joint itself is holding strong but the muscles are all out of wack. Its nothing therapy can't handle. We also found the start of an IT band problem, I'm glad we found it before it became an issue.

I'm starting to really look foward to my HIM now. I'm trying to put the last race behind me and forget how much of a disaster it was. I'm also hoping that with physical therapy my legs will be stronger and better able to handle the pounding of the HIM will give them.

Hope everyone else is doing well in training.